Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported C$0.94 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%.The firm had revenue of C$7.81 billion during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from Empire’s conference call:

• Empire reported a strong finish to fiscal 2026, with adjusted EPS up 27% year over year in Q4 to CAD 0.94 and full-year adjusted EPS growth of 8.7%, in line with its long-term framework.
• Food sales rose 2.1% and same-store sales increased 1.4% in Q4, with management saying both full-service and discount banners continue to perform well and support customer value perception.
• The company is shifting toward a new-store growth phase, planning more than 20 new stores in fiscal 2027 and over 70 over the next three years, with more than 75% of openings expected to be discount stores.
• Empire announced a 10.2% dividend increase and expects to renew its NCIB, signaling continued capital returns, while also maintaining flexibility for acquisitions like Mayrand.
• Management sees meaningful upside in pharmacy, e-commerce, and cost efficiency, including benefits from central fill, DoorDash, and operating leverage initiatives, and guided fiscal 2027 EPS growth to the high end of 8%-11%.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$50.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.94, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.20. Empire has a 1-year low of C$43.81 and a 1-year high of C$58.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$47.81 and a 200-day moving average of C$48.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMP.A has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut Empire from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a C$52.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Desjardins set a C$53.00 price objective on shares of Empire and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. TD boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$54.14.

About Empire

Empire Co Ltd key businesses are food retailing, investments, and other operations. The food retailing division operates through Empire’s subsidiary Sobeys and represents nearly all of the company’s income. This segment owns, affiliates, or franchises more than 1,500 stores in 10 provinces, under retail banners including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawton’s Drug Stores, and multiple retail fuel locations. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.